Job Creators Network Says $15-Minimum Wage Would Devastate Some Small Businesses and Wipe Out Entry-Level Jobs

Press ReleaseJanuary 14, 2019

Washington, DC (January 14, 2019) – The Democrats’ plan to more than double the federal minimum wage will crush many small employers and guarantee fewer jobs for entry-level workers, said the Job Creators Network (JCN) today.

“This will throw cold water on a hot job market that is already producing higher wages,” said JCN President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz. “A $15 minimum wage will price many entry-level workers out of the job market. The result will be fewer jobs and lower wages.”

Ortiz pointed to a University of Washington study showing that in Seattle, where city officials raised the minimum wage several years ago to $15, workers actually lost an average of $125 per month.

“Employers who can’t absorb the additional labor cost have no choice but to reduce hours for employees,” said Ortiz. “It was very predictable, and the same thing will happen on a national scale if this bill passes.”

Ortiz said Congress should forget the Fight for $15 and Join the Fight for $50, an initiative the group launched several years ago focused on producing more $50,000-per-year careers instead of minimum wage jobs.

“You can’t get a job that pays $50,000 unless you first have an entry-level job. That’s where you get the experience and the skills to move up the ladder. Raising the rate to $15 would cut off the bottom rungs of the ladder to the middle class.”

Ortiz said business leaders and policymakers must work harder to educate people on the minimum wage issue. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 1 percent of hourly-paid workers over the age of 25 earn the federal minimum wage. However, according to the Job Creators Network/ScottRasmussen.com Weekly Pulse, most Americans think the number is far higher.

“This is a solution in search of a problem,” said Ortiz. “It is a fiction that there are millions of Americans struggling to support families on $7.25 per hour. The fact is that there are more Americans working today than ever before. Wages are already rising faster than expected because of the President’s tax cuts and regulatory reforms.”